Lemay Review (continued)   Jazz 'N' Samba

Speak Low (Track 4) mixes the different music styles beautifully. Between the sultry sounds of Russell and the musicians working with her on the CD, this cut takes the top spot on my favorites list. That coming from someone who wouldn't normally give samba a second chance prior to this album.

Kudos to Kerry Blount on the tenor sax. There's something about the sax that is sexy. With the music on this CD, Blount makes wonderful music, allowing the sax to talk to the listener in ways surprising this writer with each listen. Blount also flows with the flute work on Little Sunflower - flowing in the breeze.

As an aside, this is a great CD to listen to with headphones. While I originally listened to it over my sound system a couple of times, another time I had the cans plugged in and its amazing what you can catch while listening so closely. All in all, Jazz 'N' Samba needs to take a place in your CD rack to help complete a jazz fans collection of great music.

- Marc Lemay